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Signs and Symptoms of Feeding Disorders

  • Sensory Processing Difficulties As it Relates to Feeding

    • Decreased tolerance for smells: food or environmental​

    • Inability to tolerate the sound of chewing or crunching

    • Decreased/heightened sensation of food in or around the mouth

    • Only eats certain food groups/textures/brands

    • Something about the way food looks, tastes, smells or feels is overwhelming or uncomfortable to a child

    • Unable to stay seated during mealtimes

    • Increase in behaviors like hiding, leaving the table, avoiding cafeteria

    • Overstimulated by sounds, visual stimulation in the environment or during mealtime

  • Motor Difficulties as it Relates to Feeding

    • Atypical posture (congenital or compensatory)​

    • Kyphosis, scoliosis

    • Contratures, splints

    • Hyperextension of trunk, neck, head

    • Poor muscle tone that impacts stability and resting posture

    • Neurological conditions like Cerebral Palsy

    • Decreased tolerance for tummy time

    • Fine motor delays like hand to mouth skills

    • Visual deficits

  • Disruptions in swallowing can occur at any or all phases and can vary based on the phase(s) affected and the child's age/developmental level:

    • Back arching​

    • Coughing and or choking during or after swallowing

    • Difficulty chewing foods that are textually appropriate for age (may spit out, retain, swallow partially chewed food)

    • Difficulty initiating swallowing

    • Difficulty managing secretions (including non-teething-related drooling of saliva)

    • Disengagement/refusal shown by facial grimacing, facial flushing, finger splaying, or head turning away from food source

    • Frequent congestion, particularly after meals

    • Frequent respiratory illnesses

    • Gagging

    • Loss of food/liquid from the mouth when eating

    • Noisy or wet vocal quality during and after eating

    • Taking longer than 30 minutes to finish a meal or snack

    • Delayed development of a mature swallowing or chewing pattern

    • Noisy breathing 

Signs and Symptoms of Oral Dysfunction & Ties

  • Shallow latch

  • Difficulty staying latched

  • Sensitive gag

  • Milk dribbling from corners of mouth

  • Biting or chomping on nipple

  • Milk tongue (white coating)

  • Gulping/Air swallowing

  • Clicking or squeaking noises with feeding

  • Coughing/choking during feeding

  • Lip blisters

  • Fussy feeding

  • Poor weight gain

  • Breast preference/refusal

  • Poor endurance or falling asleep

  • Always seems hunger

  • Breast/bottle feeding lasts >30 minutes

  • Bottle or pacifier refusal

  • Causing nipple pain or damage

  • Recurrent plugged ducts or mastitis

  • Low milk supply

  • Gassy

  • Reflux

  • Colic

  • Open mouth posture at rest

  • Difficulty accepting solids at 6-7 months

  • Difficulty progressing to soft solids by 8 months

  • Unable to drink from an open cup or stry by 12-18 months

  • Limited repertoire of foods

  • Difficulty moving/chewing food

  • Frequently spitting foods out

  • Frequemntly overstuffing mouth

  • Gagging or vomiting

  • Etended mealtimes (>30 minutes)

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If your child is struggling with any of the above symptoms call to schedule with us today.

Signs and Symptoms of Speech/ Disorder

Children:

  • Sings of a Language Disorder

    • Does not smile or interact with others​

    • Does not babble (4-6 months)

    • Makes only a few sounds or gestures, like reaching (7-9 months)

    • Does not understand what other say (10 months - 2 yrs)

    • Says only a few words ( 19 months -2 years)

    • Does not put words together to make sentences (19 months - 3 years)

    • Speaks using words that are not easily understood by others (3-4 years)

    • Has trouble with early reading skills, like pretending to read or finding the front of a book (4-5 years)

  • Signs of a Speech Disorder

    • Says p, b, m, h and w incorrectly in words (2-3 years)​

    • Says k, g, f, t, d, and n incorrectly in words (3-4 years)

    • Produces speech that is unclear, even to familiar people (2-3 years)

  • Signs of Stuttering (Disfluency)

    • Repeats firs sounds of words - "b-b-b-ball" for "ball"​

    • Stretches sounds out - "ffffff-farm" for "farm"

    • Shows frustration when trying to get words out

  • Signs of a Voice Disorder

    • Loss of voice​

    • Uses a hoarse or breathy voice

    • Speaks with strain and effort

Adults:

  • Signs of Speech and Language Disorders

    • Has problems saying sounds correctly​

    • Uses slurred or slowed rate of speech

    • Has problems coordinating mouth or speech movements

    • Has difficulty imitating speech sounds

    • Struggles to get out sounds or words

    • Repeats sounds, words, or parts of words

    • Experiences changes in voice (e.g. hoarse, raspy, breathy, nasal, or low volume voice)

    • Has trouble thinking of the words they want to say

    • Has problems expressing what they want or need

    • Speaks in short, fragmented phrases

    • Says words in the wrong order

    • Has trouble following directions or conversations

    • Has difficulty understanding what others say

    • Has new-trouble reading, writing, spelling or using numbers

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Social Communication

  • Can use language for different reasons: greeting, informing, demanding, promising, requesting

  • Changes language for the listener or situation: communicating differently to a baby than to an adult, giving more information appropriately, knowing when to skip details that aren't related, communicating differently in public vs in home.

  • Following rules for conversations and storytelling: taking turns, changing topics, staying on topic, saying something differently if someone doesn't understand, proximity awareness, facial expressions and eye contact.

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